Eleven herbs and spices

LESLIEVILLE—I’m addicted to fried chicken. And perhaps because I don’t eat a lot of chicken at home, I seem to crave it when I go out. (Or when I used to go out, or when I order takeout, there that’s better.)

It could be my imagination, but fried chicken always seems to taste better in the U.S., bless ’em. The fact that the portions are huge really helps and if there’s a sweetness to the sauce, even better.

So imagine my Delight (sorry, Winnipeggers and the family of Otto Koch), when I came across this hand-written recipe for Colonel Sanders Kentucky Fried Chicken, supposedly written out by his wife Claudia. It seems they came across it among her things after she died. THE OTHER TWO INGREDIENTS cropped out are: 2/3 tsp salt and  3 tsp white pepper. It says to mix with 2 cups of flour, but I’d suggest only 1 cup.

Chicken Delight (“don’t cook tonight…”) and KFC launched pretty much around the same time, early ’50s, and were rivals until KFC pulled ahead and Chicken Delight had legal issues with its franchisees. Chicken Delight Canada bought its remaining American operations and the Colonel carried on to make history.

I’ve tried the rub, of course, a couple of times. Is it for reals? Maybe I’m just not frying it right, but it’s still pretty damn good. Try it. What else have you got to do? This isn’t a travel story, but who cares.